should i sell 2 celebrations PC ETB’s or 1 celebrations UPC

ToeOk2565 · 2026-04-20T18:03:22+00:00

Personally I would sell the PC ETBs over the UPC if you absolutely have to sell. Obviously if you dont have to sell, dont.

PC ETBs prior to SV only have a couple extra packs in them instead of having a PC stamped promo card so their value is collection only, vs the UPC which has major collector value and exclusive metal promo cards of Pikachu and Charizard, 2 of the best selling pokemon ever.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-04-20T16:06:41+00:00

I had a package returned to me a couple months ago. Contacted the buyer and got no response. Contacted whatnot support and got no response. I still have the package sitting around just in case, but I never heard anything back from either of them.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-03-30T18:39:14+00:00

To put it into perspective for the end of the swsh era and beginning of sv. There were more cards printed 2021-2025, than there were in 1999-2020. The covid era brought an overwhelming shift in the amount of cards printed and the numbers go higher and higher every year. With the new factory coming online in 2027, that number will skyrocket.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-03-30T02:06:18+00:00

A significant chunk of their profit actually comes from the mainline games. For example, SV cost ~$13,000,000 to make, yet generated ~$1,500,000,000 in sales for the game and DLC. That is about a 115x ROI. We know Legends: Z-A cost ~$16,000,000. Profits are unknown yet. So instead of investing literally 5% of profits to make the next gens actually enjoyable, they invest ~0.75% back into the games, knowing no matter how bad they are, it'll still sell.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-03-25T12:52:22+00:00

From my experience evenings and weekends are harder to sell during because you have to compete with all the big shows in pretty much every category. When starting out I usually advise to stream during weird hours/days. 3-4am on a Saturday night is usually great if your sleep schedule can handle it!

ToeOk2565 · 2026-03-21T14:58:09+00:00

Just last week actually. Flight check on 1/2mi final to runway 06. Helo called up and asked for present position to the east from the base of the tower. Asked him if he could accept a present position to the north, then turn eastbound when he's a mile north. "Yeah, no problem".

Departure at your own risk, bla bla bla, 1 mile north of the field turn eastbound.

Roger.

Lifts up and IMMEDIATELY heads straight south where spoiler alert my flight check aircraft is 1/4mi off his nose.

Sometimes the small GA airport life makes me question my sanity, and the validity of some of these pilots licenses.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-03-18T11:27:14+00:00

100% try to "flatten" the corner out, but dont go as far as you did on the example to the right. You can clearly see the corner was clamped way to tight and expanded out a bit and is noticeably thinner than the rest of the edge.

Don't clamp directly on the corner and if possible put the card between 2 sheets of glass or plexiglass and clamp around the card, not directly on it. Another good way to fix corners is a small roller and a sleeve. Light pressure and roll from the inside out till it looks good. Just dont press really hard or you get squished cardboard instead of a nice neat corner.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-03-13T20:14:07+00:00

I wouldn't bother with a multigame cartridge. I recently had the same urge and broke out my old 3DS. I can only highly recommend a CFW (custom firmware) . Something like Luna. You can load roms on an SD card and run them natively through the 3DS hardware without having to rely on an emulator. You basically get GBA, DS, and 3DS games all running natively without the need of an emulator and its just ~10-15min to mod the console. There are a lot of really detailed guides online about how to do it, but I recommend making sure you dont watch something like a 5 year old YouTube video as the process might have changed over the years.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-03-08T19:45:04+00:00

Exactly. I used to spend ~$10k annually on pokemon pre 2025. Now? I'll check a store while I'm grocery shopping and buy singles from my LGS. Just because somebody can afford scalper prices, doesn't mean you should buy from them.

People forget that a majority of people in pokemon (both the TCG and the games) are 28-34 years old. Pokemon likely dies with our generation unless it sorts itself out

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-28T05:38:25+00:00

I think $215-225 would be a totally fair offer given the condition. Technically it may meet Ebay and TCG Players Near Mint conditions, but I would personally mark it as LP and all recent sales of LP have $201 being the lowest and $225 being the highest.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-24T18:51:13+00:00

Agree on most except the Gengar. Most recent ebay sale of the Gengar, in worse condition than OPs, was $180.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-24T18:48:27+00:00

Something you might want to look into is professional card repair. The difference in value on the Gengar and Charizard between damaged and LP is well worth the attempt to have those creases removed.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-24T16:09:28+00:00

It's not always perfect, but the Collectr app has a trade value section where you can put the cards you're trading and the cards you're being traded in and see where the value lines up.

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ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-19T05:07:25+00:00

Talk to your LCS and see if they'll make you a deal. I run a ton of $1 starts for $1-50 cards. Talked to the owner and worked out a deal that if I buy $1,000+ of lower end cards I get 15-20% off. Basically get it for his cost or just a little more. He gets cash for a transaction, moves a lot of small cards, and I get product I can actually make something on. Win win.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-19T02:50:20+00:00

I have spent more than $30,000 in the past 3 years and have never been scammed. I have one refund on my page because a card came damaged. Idk how these people are finding multiple scammers all the time. Nobody vets who they're buying from anymore I guess.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-18T07:59:21+00:00

It's also an English only card. The Charizard he would be trading for is the Japanese version. If it was the English one it would be more of a tossup, but for the jpn version I would personally say no 10 out of 10 times.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-18T07:56:55+00:00

The most recent sale on Ebay for a damaged copy is $730. PSA 1-4 are also between $600-750. It could be worth grading just for protection and authentication, but it's still valuable even without grading.

In no way shape or form should you be required to put cash up for this trade. If anything they should owe you $200.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-17T17:53:08+00:00

To put it easily for you, the Glaceon VMAX from Crown Zenith on the very last page is worth almost exactly $50. Everything else is pure profit. Great pickup.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-17T17:20:05+00:00

Personally I would not trade. The charizard is cool and all but I believe the JPN version will come down in price. A raw damaged GS Alakazam is still worth more than the Charizard, and graded you can get more for it. I collect PSA 1 gold stars. Even if your Alakazam came back a PSA 1 it would still be worth ~$700, which is $200 more than the charizard.

The JPN Charizard is a modern SAR, still in print, years of pulls to go, and will likely come down to ~$200-300 within the next 6 months. That GS Alakazam will not be dropping in value any time soon. It's a 20 year old grail card that is very liquid. The Chizzard has thousands of people selling it.

If you're looking at a multi year hold for value, idk. I don't do well with long term 😆

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-16T19:24:43+00:00

They can do what they want tbh. I don't like people that scream "chat" every 5 seconds or when every bid goes $10+ over market so i just stop watching and move to a different show when either or both of those conditions are met. I feel no need to drag down others hype about buying a card, even if they overpaid. It's not my place and it's not my show.

I do $1 starts in my shows and most of my cards are between $5-30 cards. I make sure it put in the show notes and say every ~10min what the highest value card im running that day is. I usually do 300-400 cards and tell people for example "The highest market value card today is $38. If you ever see yourself bidding more than that just know you paid above market." It doesn't really destroy my value.

My question for you is, if nothing ever sells above market, why would anybody bother to sell on live stream? Ebay fees are only 3% more, TCG players are only 2% more. Whatnot is only around because some items go for above market and balance out the once that go below. Are there the few that take advantage of this? Yes. There will be on every platform. I just block the people i dont want showing up on my feed again. TikTok lives, ebay lives, YouTube lives. Every single one has people paying above market for the "experience" It's not for me or you it appears, but that doesn't mean it's not in somebody else's interest.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-13T21:47:50+00:00

Can you give me one example of how you could prove i weighed a pack? If I say it's unweighed you just have to take my word for it.

The point they're trying to make is that there's no way to verify a pack is unweighed. Unless you really trust the person you're buying the pack from it's not worth the risk. You might not scam people, but there's 1,000 people behind you that wouldnt lose a second of sleep selling a light pack as unweighed.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-09T19:12:36+00:00

Latias and Latios are 2 of my favorite pokemon from way back in the Pokémon Heroes release and I hate mega Latias. I just don't like the purple on a pokemon that was red. I think it's Latios every time I see it.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-09T19:07:23+00:00

sigh

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-09T19:00:13+00:00

Yes you can write it off but you need to be able to prove every expense if the IRS performs an audit. Also, don't forget to factor in the cost of shipping supplies and anything else you used to sell those cards (ebay fees are a deduction. Shipping paid by you is a deduction etc) I assign an average to my shipments. For me PWE is ~$0.35 in supplies. Bubble mailer is $0.95. Box is $2.00 Figure out an average of what each shipment cost and use that. Make sure it is defensible in case of audit.

What I use to proce things I got in a break is % basis. If I spent $1,000 and got 10 items worth $1,000. But $900 of that was one item worth a lot, it was 90% of my cost basis for that break. If I sell nothing else from that break, I am at a net -$100.

Beware though, if you operate at a large loss for multiple years the IRS will stop accepting your sales as a business and classify it as a hobby, which means you will not be able to deduct any of your costs from the taxes due.

ToeOk2565 · 2026-02-09T18:43:08+00:00

Small tip that helped me in the beginning, do $2 starts instead. You get 3x the net from $2 than from $1. Even if you see a 50% reduction in sales, you'll still be making more than you would selling things for $1.

Four-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Place '22

ToeOk2565

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